Hospital, Oil Company Tussle Over Land

The battle over a piece of land between the Teshie Family Hospital and A.I. Company Limited, an oil marketing firm at Teshie in the Ledzokuku-Krowor Municipality in Accra may lead to the payment of judgement debt if the matter is not settled soon. The Teshie Family Hospital is contesting the right of the oil marketing company to build and operate a filling station near it. Last year, A.I was granted permit by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) and the Ghana National Fire Service to construct a filling station and a two-storey block of offices comprising a banking hall, restaurant, lounge and shops. When completed, the project is expected to fulfil the purpose of creating hundreds of job opportunities for people in the community and beyond. But management of the hospital have raised objections to the construction of the facility despite A.I having been granted permission to put up the structures. The hospital�s objection to the construction of the facility was because of a perceived risk the upcoming structure could pose to the health facility. It also fears of a potential fire outbreak or explosion and likely respiratory problems that could be caused by constant inhalation of fumes from the fuel station by patients and workers of the hospital. Meanwhile, a site plan released by the oil marketing company shows that it has altered the building plan for the filling station and offices it is proposing to put up. It has also put in place measures to ensure that concerns expressed by the hospital were addressed. Other documents also reveal that before granting the company permit, the EPA imposed conditions on A.I, ordering it to take account of the hospital�s concerns. Among the conditions imposed was that the pump and fuel tanks for the filling station be placed at a considerable distance away from the hospital and sank deep enough to ensure safety and unlikeliness to contaminate the environment. In addition, the structures were to be built to face opposite the hospital facility and in conformity to features in line with international standards for putting up such facilities. A.I was also ordered to adopt the Vapour Recovery System (VRS) application, which is a current technology that ensures that fumes emanating from the pumps are absorbed without risk. The VRS technology absorbs about 98 per cent of fumes released from the pumps. Another condition that was imposed on the oil company before the permit was granted was for it to put up a high wall to shield the hospital from any likely smoke that might come from the filling station and the shopping centre that would be built between it and the hospital. There are fears that if the construction of the filling station and offices is halted by any of the state organisations involved now, it will mean the state would have to reimburse the oil company for the cost it has incurred over the project.